Soaring on Hope
by faerimagic
Summary: This short story is told through multiple POVs. It's also old, written around June 2010, and so it was written before knowledge of Korra was known. In any case, I hope you enjoy it.


Tani was interrupted by a loud knocking at the door.

She answered it.

"Yes?" she said to the couple.

"We decided to adopt a child from the orphanage," said the woman. "Could you please tell us her fate?"

Tani sighed. "Yes, yes, come in." Ever since she had succeeded the Great Aunt Wu, she had visitors from near and far, asking for their fortune. It was bothersome, really.

She quickly glanced at the five-year-old. _Probably she'll grow up to marry a fisherman, or a scholar,_ she thought dismissively.

"Come this way." She led them towards the Palm-Reading Room.

The girl was quiet and followed her new parents.

As they passed the Bone Room, the girl stopped.

"Come, Ari, it's this way." Said her mother.

The girl hugged her cat-bear plush tightly and pointed at the door, her eyes foggy.

"This room…" she whispered, ever so quietly.

Tani sighed. "Fine, fine, this room." She had her share of experiences with little children. It was best to not get in their way. Their grubby paws had an alarming habit of touching everything that was fragile. Fortunately, this girl wasn't like other children, so Tani had no reason to worry about anything.

She unlocked the room and went inside. The girl and her parents followed.

She sat down by the Bone Pit and addressed the small child. "Pick a bone." Ari released a hand from her plush, reached inside the pot and pulled out a medium bone. Now, the child and her parents may have missed this, but Tani, with her sharp eyes, suddenly saw that the bone had a very slight crack that ran all around it, splitting the bone in two, and yet, the bone still held.

"Throw it into the fire." She commanded. The girl obeyed.

Immediately, there was a loud explosion. The bone pieces scattered across the floor, covered with ceiling debris.

Tani quickly studied the remnants of the bone. Her breath was caught in her throat. She glanced hesitantly at them.

"It's best if the child waits outside." She said. The parents glanced at each other worriedly. The child got up and exited it out the room, closing the door tightly shut.

Tani faced the parents. "You wish to know your child's future? Here it is.

"She will be inflicted with a disease that will leave her blind, her legs frail, and her hope destroyed. She is a bender, but which bender, I do not know. If she finds out which bender she is, she will recover from her illness, but that will not happen for many years."

The woman began to cry. Tani ignored her.

"Her real parents are of significant importance. There is something here I cannot make out, but she is last in something. Her life is delicately balanced on a thread. She could easily succumb to the disease at any time. That is all the bones say."

"But what can we do?" said the woman between sobs.

"Do?" echoed Tani. "Find out who her real parents are. Protect her from harm. All else is solely up to her. She needs to find out who she really is and fight the curse herself."

The woman continued crying. The man stood up and helped her exit the house. Before he left, he forced a painful smile and said in a choking voice. "W-we thank you for your time." He said.

Tani said the customary response, with melancholy, "May good luck follow you." They bowed to each other, and then the man and his wife left, holding their adopted child dearly.

* * *

"And that is the story of your fate." Said Yoru, my nurse.

"Is that really how it went?" I asked.

"Yes, and if you don't believe me, you can go read the records. The mistress had written it down."

"I can't read those, Yoru. You forget that I'm blind."

"Ah, yes, if only you didn't leave your eyes open so. Then I might've remembered." She chuckled. "Sometimes, you remind me of the Great Warrioress, Toph."

I felt myself blush.

"Toph was an Earthbender. She could see with her feet, whereas my feet are trapped in a wooden box."

"Do not belittle yourself so." She scolded. "You have Toph's eyes and Teo's legs. They overcame their disadvantages, and so will you."

I sighed. True, the Mechanic, Teo, had crippled legs. But I wasn't like Teo, or Toph. I was a spoiled brat in a noble family with not one, but two weaknesses.

I turned the wheelchair around and sighed. "Yoru, could you leave me alone for a minute?"

I heard her bow. "Of course, milady." She left the room.

I wheeled myself to the open balcony. The wind was blowing a cool fresh breeze.

Ever since that trip to the Fortuneteller, Tani, I no longer could remember events before that. I only remembered laughter and happiness with my real parents. That was all I had. I don't remember how they looked like, how they sounded like, or even how they tucked me into bed.

When I was seven, my hair began to fall out, my eyes saw only darkness, and my legs became weak. My parents were terrified of me, they put me in this wheelchair and they placed a wig on my head.

It was only until today that I learned of my fate.

"Father, Mother, who am I?" I asked. The wind was the only reply.

The next day, I visited Reizu, my childhood friend. He's my complete opposite. He doesn't wear a wig, he doesn't use a wheelchair, he's not blind, he's not rich, he's not adopted, he has tons of friends, he's not destined to die, and most of all, he's a boy. And yet, he completely understands me.

I told him what Yoru told me.

His voice was full of pity. "I'm sorry, Ari." He said softly. "I didn't know."

"That's ok." I said, feeling guilty for making him feel bad. "Neither did I, until yesterday."

His next sentence was filled with hope. "But you'll survive, right? If you learned how to bend?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Ok, then." He placed something in my hand. "Lift that rock."

I raised it over my head.

"No, no, not like that! I mean lift it with your Earthbending."

I frowned. "I'm not an Earthbender."

"You might be." He corrected me. "Now concentrate on it lifting."

I sighed and concentrated for about two minutes. I threw the rock. "It's not working."

"You didn't try hard enough!" he protested. "Now again…"

By the end of the day, it was clear that I wasn't an Earthbender.

Reizu pushed me home. He sounded cheerful. "Tomorrow, we're going to be practicing Waterbending!" I groaned.

* * *

Dear Logbook,

I brought Mikka over so she could teach Ari to Waterbend today. She got wet, and Mikka and I were yelled at by her parents. Apologized.

Will continue training tomorrow.

Reizu.

* * *

Dear Logbook,

Brought Jinji over for Firebending training. Made Ari throw punches while concentrating on the heat of the air. Some people stared at us. She did not make fire.

Now what?

Reizu.

* * *

After Jinji left, I wheeled over to Reizu.

"Look, Reizu, I—"

"Don't worry, Ari, we'll find a way for you to learn Airbending." He said. But I could sense a feel of worry, or fear, in his voice.

"Reizu." I began again. "You don't need to do this."

"Yes, I do! I don't want to lose…You're my best friend, Ari." Somehow, I sensed pain in his voice. "I have to stick by you, no matter what. That means helping get rid of your curse!"

"Reizu, I'm fine. I'm happy the way I am. I don't care whether or not I can bend. I just want to be happy on the day that I die."

Strong hands clamped my shoulders. "Don't say that!" he yelled. "Don't say that you're going to die! You won't! You won't die!" he hesitated. "Not while I can help it."

I faced him. "Fine, I won't die. I just want to be happy for the rest of my life." _Which is going to end soon_. I added silently.

He released my shoulders. "Sorry." He said.

"That's ok." I wheeled myself home.

I figured there would be no Airbending training. Avatar Aang, the last Airbender, had died a few years ago, so there would be no one to train me. Besides, it was hopeless.

I'm doomed. True, I said that I would be happy in my current form, but actually, I wanted Reizu to stop doing pointless things. There's no hope that I'll recover, I'm destined to die.

"Milady?" Yoru called, interrupting my thoughts. "Someone is here to see you."

"Let them in."

Someone walked inside my room and stopped in front of me.

"Ari," said Reizu excitedly. "Guess what?" and before I could answer that question, he continued. "Dad came back from trading and he gave me this." He placed a long thing in my hands.

"A stick?"

"No, it's a staff. But not just any staff, it's Avatar Aang's staff."

I smiled. "That's really nice, Reizu. You're so lucky." I handed it back to him.

He didn't take it. "You don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

"With this staff, you'll be able to Airbend, and then you'll be free of the disease!"

I grew angry. "Take a hint, Reizu!" I yelled. "I'm not a bender, ok? I'm nobody, and can't you just LEAVE ME ALONE SO I CAN APPRECIATE THAT FACT?"

He didn't respond. Everything was silent except for the larkgale outside who sang all too happily for my taste.

"Get out." I said.

"…Fine." He snatched the rod out of my hands and left.

I felt even lonelier than before.

My lessons with the tutor became increasingly more redundant as time went by.

"After that, Avatar Aang proposed to the mighty Katara, despite the fact he was technically over—"

"One hundred years old." I interrupted. "But his biological age was around 20, because he was trapped in an iceberg for 100 years. Can we skip history today?"

"Well, since you seem to know all the facts, I think it seems reasonable that we skip. But just for today." He warned. He began looking through his stack of books, based on the amount of riffling I heard.

"I want you to analyze this poem, written by Avatar Aang himself."

I frowned. It seemed every day was Avatar Aang Day, now.

My tutor cleared his throat.

"_The wind calls to me, _

_ I hear,_

_ And smile._

_ As I fly through the air,_

_ Things on the ground seem less worthwhile._

_ But finally I descended,_

_ Telling my wife that hope flowed on the breeze,_

_ But she only smiled with tears, and said_

_ 'I just hoped you would return to me.'_

Now, tell me what is actually being said in this—Why in the world are you crying?" he said.

I touched my cheek. It was wet. "I don't know." I said, feeling bewildered.

The tears started coming even quicker now.

"The wind, it means that he was an Airbender. He loved the air so much, he wanted to stay there forever. But he returned to earth. He must have been in the sky for a long time, because his wife was crying when he returned and because of the last line." I said. "She never gave up hope." My breath was caught in my throat.

"Yes, very good," he started writing in his notebook. "Now I want you to recite the poem by the brave Sokka, the one where he is torn by which woman he should propose to…Ari? Ari?"

I had already left the room.

I was in front of Reizu's house and I knocked on the door. The door opened.

"Ari?" Reizu said. "Ari, what are you doing here?"

"Reizu, I'm sorry about yelling at you, can I…" I hesitated. "Can I borrow your staff? I thought about it and I decided to at least try to Airbend."

"That's…That's great!" he said with eagerness. "I'll go get it!"

I waited in front of the door, befuddled. I was so sure he was going to say no…

We were in the park.

"Now, try to feel the air currents, and 'flow' with them…" Reizu babbled on and on about how to Airbend even though he never had such experiences.

I ignored him. All I felt was the staff in my hands, the wind in my face, _my legs, standing on their own. _It was a weird sensation.

I opened the staff's wings. I put the tail behind me and ran, _ran_. It was exhilarating, just to be able to run. I wondered how flying could ever top it. I didn't have to wonder for long.

I flew. No, that's not right.

_I flew._ ME, a blind, crippled, wig-wearing girl.

The wind was truly in my face now.

I could feel the staff/glider soar between the breezes. I might've been near a few birds, I wasn't sure. All I knew was that it was silent except for the wind in my ears. And my laughter.

Something changed. Something...I can't explain. Not about this flying, it was more about something with myself.

And then I realized it. _I can see._

"I can see. I can see!" I shouted into the empty air. I saw that I was very high from the ground. I glided down and landed.

"Ari!" said a voice. A person ran towards me. "Ari, are you alright?" It looked troubled.

I smiled delightfully. "Reizu, is that you? I see you!"

"You…see me?" he said, truly puzzled.

"I'm no longer blind! The curse is gone!"

* * *

I hugged her. "Thank god." I said. I was so afraid that someday, I would lose her.

She stiffened, slightly, then hugged me back.

Finally, she let go of me.

"Reizu, I'm going to fly again. I want to shout out into the heavens so the spirits may hear me, I'm no longer cursed!"

I laughed. "You do that."

She hugged me again, and ran towards the sky.

I felt like I was flying with her.

Jinji came up to me.

"So, she's an Airbender." He said.

"Yeah."

"So…that would mean Avatar Aang is…"he continued.

I almost choked.

* * *

The world seemed so colorful, and happy.

A cloud floated by me and I instantly recognized the shapes.

"Father! Mother!" I said happily, now that their memories returned to me. "Thank you!" I called out to them.

They smiled and nodded, before the wind blew them away, sending me higher into the sky, sending me soaring on hope.


End file.
